Book ofLove?
by Rockit073093
Summary: Fai works in the library; what happens when Kurogane finds a rather interesting book?
1. Chapter 1

The library was massive. The walls stretched further than the human eye could follow, seeming to fade into deeper and deeper darkness the further they went. The shelves, too many too even attempt to count, reached all the way toward the ceiling. They went through the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors; there were even special little holes in the floors for the shelves to go through. Safety rails ensured that the people would be safe, and the automated catalogue beside each shelf made it possible that only one librarian had to work at a time. Straight up, through the holes and past the shelves, the distinctive twinkle of stars was faintly visible through the ceiling, which was actually a gigantic, domed skylight.

Like all libraries, signing out the books was free. However, the library cards, although cheap, were not.

Fai was agitated. Normally, the massive library had a sort of draw to the blond, and it was usually incredibly relaxing to be near the building, let alone inside it. Today was different. The usual draw seemed to have dissipated and have been replaced by a pounding headache. The library was usually fairly quiet, other than the occasional whispered conversation, and maybe the occasional loud patron, who was quickly hushed by his or her companions. There was a high school field trip today, and as much as Fai loved to work there, he was suddenly wishing that he'd called in a sick day.

He'd already had to deal with four shelves being emptied of books, and replaced by rolls of toilet paper in various shades of pink, orange, and green, various graffiti (not all of it was as nice as _Timothy R. is a man-bitch_), and of course, the screaming teenagers, and worse, the screaming teacher. But that wasn't the worst part; far from it.

_Ugh, _Fai thought, _you would think that they'd learned by now…_

The worst part was the underage girls who always seemed to think that it was okay to flirt with him. He knew that his blond hair and blue eyes were appealing to women, but this was just ridiculous. He wasn't interested in hormone ridden teenagers. _Or even women in general, _he thought.

_Creeeaaak-smash!_ Fai looked up from the gaggle of pre-pubescent girls that he was trying to convince not to come behind the counter just in time to see several of the athletically inclined kids push over a bookshelf.

"Hey! That's ENOUGH!"

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Fai stared forlornly at the building; the kids and their insane teacher were gone, leaving him with most of the mess and a (thankfully) quiet library. Unfortunately, the shelves were much too heavy for him to lift on his own, and after the chaos from today he loathed the thought of calling the teacher who had been "supervising" the kids and telling her to get the hell over here and clean up her and the kids' mess.

He sighed.

"Hey."

Fai looked up as his friend wound his way around the upturned shelf and the various piles of books that littered the floor.

"What the fuck happened in here? Yuko's gonna be _pissed_."

Fai quietly explained what had happened. "….And I'm seriously regretting not taking the day off and just staying in bed," He finished, extending his arm to show the damage that had been inflicted on the building.

Kurogane stared at him for a minute. "Do you need any help?"

Fai sighed and pointed to the shelf. "You push that back up, and I'll get the books, then."

The dark haired man shrugged and moved toward the shelf, taking obvious care not to tread on the books.

_It's not like Kuro to be so nonchalant….I wonder if something happened? _

Fai was almost completely through stacking the books by size; once he put them in the correct machine, they would automatically be sent back to their proper places, when he realized that he was being stared at. This behaviour was so out of character for his friend that Fai rocked back on his heels and stared back in surprise.

"Kuro-tan? Are you all right?"

Kurogane continued to stand in front of the now righted shelf. He was drawn up almost to his full height, and his entire body was rigid, as though he was being called to attention. His wine coloured eyes were locked on the blond's confused blue ones.

"Kuro…?..."

It was then that Fai noticed the book. Kurogane had an old, red, leatherbound book gripped tightly by the spine in his left hand; it was about the size of a large dictionary, it had what appeared to be several loose pages in the binding, the red leather was faded and cracked; the title was impossible to read (it looked as though it had faded into oblivion some time ago), and it appeared to be shimmering.

_Wait, _Shimmering_?What the fuck…._

Fai watched in astonishment as the book shimmered for another minute or so. It stopped suddenly, and the book dropped to the floor, along with Kurogane. The blond rushed over to his friend, automatically checking for a pulse, and breathing a sigh of relief when he found a steady heartbeat. He reached into his pocket, searching for his handheld; a tan hand with a gold class ring securing a garnet on the index finger grabbed his arm and pulled him down until his face was level with the now concious Kurogane.

Before he could fully open his mouth and form the utterly coherent thought of _huh?, _The dark haired man pulled him closer and kissed him. Without thought or hesitation, Fai kissed back. As soon as the blond pulled back for air, Kurogane lost conciousness again.

Fai stared in surprise, hands splayed on either side of his friend's shoulders. _I had no idea…_

Mind still reeling from the mixture of shock and passion, he stood up and staggered back toward the books and finished putting them through the machines. It took him a moment to see that he had the red book in his hand. Curiousity got the better of him and he opened it.

To his surprise, there was a note scribbled in a spiky, elegant script on the inside cover.

_Dear Fai and Kurogane, _

_I've noticed that you've both looked a bit "under the weather" lately. Normally I wouldn't care, however I can not have my employees upsetting my customers, now can I? _

_So consider this a gift. I think that you two will enjoy this book. _

_Once opened, it releases a cloud of noxious fumes, which, having enveloped the reader, bring out their affections toward those that they love. Enjoy!_

_Love,_

_Yuko_

_P.S. In case you haven't figured it out, this book is titled "The Book of Love" _

Cheeks burning, Fai let the book drop to the floor. Somewhere behind him, Kurogane groaned.


	2. The tea room, and things left unsaid

**A/N- Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last time! That was my first ever piece of fan fiction (this is my second) and it made me really happy to see the reviews and especially that nobody flamed me. So thank you so much and I hope that you enjoy the second part as much as you did the first. **

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Kurogane stared in bewilderment at his friend. Fai was clearly excited over something, even more so than usual and it bothered Kurogane that he hadn't been able to pry it out of his friend. As if he could sense his friend's irritation, Fai shifted uncomfortably in his chair, refusing to meet Kurogane's eyes, and looking anywhere but directly at him; including the teacup.

That was just one more source of irritation for the dark haired man. He'd asked, no _demanded_, answers from his friend about the odd behavior. Nothing. The blond had completely ignored him for a week and a half, then suddenly decided that it was a wonderful idea to call Kurogane at four in the morning and ask him if they could talk. Kurogane had been so relieved that Fai was willing to give him answers that he'd automatically agreed to meet up the next day; it wasn't until after he'd hung up that he realized that he'd agreed to meet the blond at _Jimothy's Old English and Japanese Style Tea Parlor_.

_What kind of name is Jimothy, anyway?_ He'd thought, annoyed.

Now he was sitting in a stupid tea parlor, drinking what smelled suspiciously like cat piss (Fai had already ordered for both of them by the time Kurogane arrived), and trying to get any sort of response from the blond. Kurogane scowled and could have sworn that he felt the waitresses glare at the back of his head. Taking a massive gulp of the nasty smelling tea (which tasted even worse than it smelled), he cleared his throat and shot the blond a meaningful look.

"What's going on? And don't sit there and pretend that nothing is, because I know it is."

Fai shot him a frosty glare at him. "Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you…"

"BULLSHIT!" Kurogane glared at the blond, registering somewhere in the back of his mind that he'd been louder than necessary. "You can't even _look me in the eye_. You expect me to believe that?"

Fai looked away, pink creeping into his face. The blond fiddled idly with his tea cup, not saying anything. When Kurogane cleared his throat impatiently, Fai held up his index finger. Kurogane nodded reluctantly; if his friend was willing to give him answers, then he was willing to wait, at least for a little while.

"You know that day in the….in the library, when I had to deal with that hag of a school teacher?"

Kurogane nodded.

"And you know how I've been kind of….strange….lately? And I've kinda been…been…" Kurogane stared at his friend in surprise. "Do you mean that day when I came in, you were pissed over the kids, and I offered to help? The day that I passed out on the floor?" Fai nodded, and without looking once at his friend, explained. The blond then fell silent and proceeded to stare at his now near empty tea cup, letting his hair fall over his eyes. Kurogane stared at him. A couple of times, the dark haired man opened his mouth, then shut it, not sure what to say.

"Are you mad?"

Kurogane's head snapped up automatically, and he stared at his friend. He'd only ever seen Fai this upset three times in the entire time that he'd known the blond; the first was when Fai's parents, Mr. And Mrs. Fluorite had been killed in a car accident, the second was when Fai's Cat Mokona had been eaten by a coyote. The third, and the worst, had been when Yuui had mysteriously vanished, leaving behind everything.

"No"

Fai stared at Kurogane in surprise, blue eyes wide and unnaturally bright. It was obvious that he was trying not to cry. The dark haired man did the only thing he could; he reached across the table (knocking over the tea pot and teacups in the process and effectively stain the table cloth a dingy green colour) and pulled Fai into a tight hug. The blond immediately burst into tears and Kurogane continued to hug him even after he'd stopped crying.

"Thanks."

"No, uh, no problem." Kurogane looked away, not quite hiding his smile.


End file.
